Announcing machines



Nov. 25, 1958 J. L. FRANKLIN 2,862,065

ANNOUNCING MACHINES Filed Sept. 4. 1955 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORATTORNEYJ' Nov. 25, 1958 J. L. FRANKLIN 2,852,065

ANNOUNCING MACHINES Filed Sept. 4. 1955 "r Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENTOR ANNFiled Sept 4' 1953 NKLIN OUNCING MACHINES 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 Nov. 25, 1958J. L. FRANKLIN 2,862,065

ANNOUNCING MACHINES Filed Sept. 4. 1953 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 iii ATTORNEYSINVENTOR k Nov. 25, 1958 J. L. FRANKLIN 2,352,065

ANNOUNCING MACHINES Filed Sept. 4. 1953 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 a; //f. W /65 Iji 1 /fi7 ATTORNEYS United States Patent ANNOUNCING MACHINES John L.Franklin, Atlanta, Ga.

Application September 4, 1953, Serial No. 378,550

14 Claims. (Cl. 179100.2)

This invention relates to announcing machines, and particularly to thetype of announcing machine described and illustrated in my Patent No.2,285,425, granted June 9, 1942. The general object of the invention isto provide certain important improvements upon the machine disclosed insaid patent.

More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to providean announcing machine of the general type referred to above, in whichthe message-bearing records, including both those which are used inannouncing the time of day and those which bear the commercial or othermessage which may be alternated with the time announcements, aremagnetic in nature, that is, are formed of magnetic material and havethe said messages magnetically recorded thereon. In the time-announcingmachine disclosed in the aforesaid patent, the messages have beenrecorded on film, in strip form, and it has been necessary to separatelysecure a large number of individual message records on a message drum orcylinder, a time-consuming and expensive operation. According to thepresent invention, the desired number of separate messages may bemagnetically recorded on a single record, which may be readily installedon or removed from the machine as desired, thus greatly reducing thecost and improving the facility of changing the messages to beannounced. A further advantage of this feature of the invention lies inthe fact that the same record may be used over and over, by magneticallyerasing the old messages and recording new ones, and this may be donewhile the record is on the machine.

A corollary of the aforesaid object is the provision of a novel methodof preparing records for use on a machine of the character described.Another object is the provision, in a machine of the characterdescribed, of means whereby any one of a plurality of messages may beselected for continuous repetition (alternately with the timeannouncement), or, alternatively, each of the messages may bereproducedin turn, the entire series of messages being cyclically repeated. Afeature of the structure enabling the aforesaid selective type ofoperation lies in the means whereby any given one of a group of messagesrecorded on a single record may be selected for constant repetition bymanually indexing the record-bearing drum, Without removing the recordfrom the machine and without interrupting the time-announcing operationof the machine. Another feature of this improvement consists in the factthat the message record may be changed without st0pping the machine orotherwise interfering with the announcement of time.

Another object of the invention consists in the provision of a machineof the character described, in which the hour and minute records which,like the message record, are of magnetic character, are adjacent eachother at the same end of the machine, and are reproduced during the samestroke of the reproducing mech anism, which arrangement enables improvedannouncement continuity, and also facilitates changing of the messagerecord without interference with the time announcing operation.

A further object of the invention is the provision, in a machine of thecharacter described, of means for the quick manual setting of the time,i. e., the hour and minute records. Features of this structure consistin a clutch mechanism for ready disengagement of the time and hourrecord structure from the driving mechanism, novel means whereby thehour drum may be quickly advanced to the correct position according tothe time of day, and means whereby the last-mentioned function may beperformed without disturbing the synchronization between the hour andminute records.

Another object of the invention is the provision of means whereby theduration of a full cycle of the machine may .be selectively varied, forexample, the machine may quickly and easily be adjusted to performeither a 10-second cycle or a 15-second cycle (or any one of areasonably small number of predetermined cycles). A feature of thestructure making this adjustment possible is the provision of a singlecam cylinder provided with a plurality of separate cam grooves eachcapable of controlling the operation of the machine during cycles ofdifferent durations.

A further object is the provision of means whereby the circuit closingand opening switches for connecting and disconnecting the reproducingmechanism of the machine into a listening circuit, for example atelephone circuit, may be adjusted relative to the cycle of the machineso that the connection and disconnection may he made at any desiredpoints of the cycle.

. Other and further objects, features and advantages will be apparentfrom the description which follows, read in connection with theaccompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a machineconstructed according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical axial section of the machine;

Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 are transverse sections on lines 3-3, 44, 5-5, and66, respectively, of Figure 2;

Figure 7 is a plan View of the machine with the movable carriage and itsassociated mechanism and the upper half of the housing removed;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary vertical section, on an enlarged scale, of aportion of the clutch mechanism seen at the left-hand end of Figure 2;

Figure 9 is an elevation of the cam cylinder employed in a modified formof the invention;

Figure 10 is a fragmentary plan view of the movable carriage of the saidmodification;

Figure 11 is a vertical section on line 1111 of Figure 10;

Figure 12 is a transverse section through a portion of the machineillustrating a further modification;

Figure 13 is a plan view corresponding to Figure 12; and

Figure 14 is a fragmentary horizontal. section on line 1414 of Figure12.

In order to facilitate an understanding of the invention, reference ismade to the embodiments thereof shown in the accompanying drawings-anddetailed descriptive language is employed. It will nevertheless beunderstood that no limitation of the invention is thereby intended andthat various changes and alterations are contemplated such as wouldordinarily occur to one skilled in the art to which the inventionrelates.

Referring now to Figure l the machine comprises generally a roughlycylindrical housing 20 having cylindrical extensions 21 and 22projecting from either end thereof, the said cylindrical extensionsbeing closed at their outer ends by disc-like closures 23 and 24,respectively. A synchronous motor 25 is provided adjacent one side ofthe housing 20 and a reciprocating carriage 26 i s movably mounted onrails 27 (Figure carried by the housing 20, by means of rollers 28(Figure 6 journaled on the carriage 26. Magnetic reproducing heads 29and 30 are mounted, by means hereinafter described, to reciprocate withthe carriage 26, the heads 29 and 30 being adapted to be placed,alternately, in reproducing engagement with the records inside thecylindrical extensions 21 and 22 through openings 31 and 32,respectively.

Reciprocating movement of the carriage 26 is produced through theengagement of a cam follower 33 (Figure 2) in the cam groove 34 of a camcylinder 35 best illustrated in Figure 7, the cam cylinder 35 beingdriven at constant speed by the synchronous motor 2 5, through a drivemechanism seen in Figures 2 and 5 comprising a worm gear shaft 36 drivenfrom the motor shaft 37 through a flexible coupling 38. The worm 39meshes with a gear 40 secured on hub 41, the latter being journaled onthe sleeve 42 projecting inwardly from an end plate 43 comprising a partof the cylindrical extension 21. The gear 40 is coupled through themedium of a rubber mounted pin 44 to the adjacent end plate 45- of thecam cylinder 35, and it will be readily understood that rotation of thelatter, through the means just described, will cause cyclicreciprocation of the carriage 26 in accordance with the design of camgroove 34.

As in the machine of the aforesaid Patent No. 2,285,- 425, the hour andminute recordings, as well as the message recordings, are arrangedspirally upon drums which are coaxial with, and driven through, the camcylinder 35. The message record 50 (Figure 2) consists of a cylindricalmember of magnetizable material, for example Neoprene rubber impregnatedwith iron oxides, which possesses some elasticity and is frictionallyretained on the message drum 51 secured on a message drum hub 52. Thelatter is journaled on a sleeve 53 carried by the end plate 45 of thecam cylinder 35.

A second hub 54 is keyed to the sleeve 53, as at 55, and rotatestherewith. The hub 54 is provided with a circular series of openings 56corresponding to the number of messages recorded on the record 50, whilethe hub 52 carries an eccentric boss 57 which is apertured to receive aclutch rod 58. The latter is provided with three. annular grooves 59, 60and 61, respectively, each of which is adapted to be engaged by the balldetent 62 carried in the boss 57. The outer end of the clutch rod 58 is.adapted to seat in a corresponding opening 63 in the arm 64 which isaffixed by screws to a cylindrical block 65 pinned to the hollow shaft66. A knurled handle 67 carried by the clutch rod 58 permitsmanipulation of the latter to engage any one of the grooves 59, 60' and61 with the ball detent 62. When the groove 59 is so engaged, as seen inFigure 2, the outer end of the rod 58 will engage the opening 63 in arm64, thus clutching the hub 52 to the hollow shaft 66. When, on the otherhand the groove 61 of the rod 58 is engaged by the detect 62, the innerend of the rod 58 will extend into a selected one of the openings 56 inhub 54 and the outer end of rod 58 will be disengaged from the arm 64.The hubs 52 and 54 are thus clutched together. When the groove 60 isengaged by the detent 62, the hub 52 is not clutched to either the hub54 or the arm 64 and is free to rotate independently, thus enablingmanual indexing of the message drum to place a desired message inposition for reproduction.

Since the hub 54 is provided with a circular series of openings 56adapted to receive the clutch rod 58, each opening corresponding to oneof the messages of the message record, it is obvious that any desiredone of the, for example 12, messages on the message record, may beindexed for constant repetition.

The hour record 70 and minute record'71 comprise cylindrical members ofmaterial similar to that of the message record 50, the hour record beingfrictionally retained on the hour drum 72 and the minute recordsimilarly mounted on the minute drum 73. The latter is carried by theminute hub 74 which in turn is keyed as at 75 to the hollow minute shaft76. The hour drum 72 is secured on an hour hub 77 journaled on theminute hub 74, the hub 77 being driven through the arm 78 to which it issecured by means of screw 79. The arm 78, in turn, is secured to the endof hour shaft 80 which extends axially through a hollow clutch shaft 81which in turn extends within the hollow minute shaft 76. The hour shaft80 is pinned to the stub shaft 82 which carries a worm gear 83 meshingwith a worm secured on the shaft 84 of the hour index gear 85. Theminute shaft 76 is connected through screws 86' and slots 87 to a collar88. The latter is slidable axially of the machine by virtue of theaforesaid screw and slot connection with the minute shaft and isengageable and disengageable, through pin 89 and aperture 90, with agear 91 journaled on the minute shaft. The gear 91 meshes with a worm 93on the shaft of minute index gear 94.

The operations of the minute index gear 94 and hour index gear inindexing the minute and hour drums, respectively, are no diiferent fromthose of the equivalent members of the earlier machine described in theaforesaid Patent No. 2,285,425, and therefore will not be ex plained indetail. Suffice it to say that the minute index gear derives its motionfrom the revolution of the, cam cylinder 35, through the intermediationof the fixed circular rack 100, the meshing gear 101 mounted on stubshaft 102 carried by the cam cylinder, pinion 103 fast with gear 101,gear 104 meshing with pinion 103 and mounted on shaft 105 carried by thecam cylinder 35 and carrying pinion 106. The latter meshes with gear 108secured to the hub of minute index cam 109, which in turn engages minuteindex gear 94.

An hour index cam 92 fast on the minute shaft 76 en-.

gages the hour index gear 85. The shaft 105 journaled in a boss 111 onthe central web of the cam cylinder 35 carries a pinion 112 driving agear 113 fast on one end of the hollow shaft 66.

As a result of the construction thus described, the minute shaft isrotated through a fraction of a revolution once each minute, to bring anew minute record under the corresponding reproducing head, while thehour shaft is rotated through a fraction of a revolution once each hourto bring a new hour record under the said reproducing head. By virtue ofthe drive transmitted through shaft 105, pinion 112 and gear 113, thehollow shaft 66 is rotated at a speed which is, for example, one-halfrevolution per minute greater than the rotative speed of the camcylinder itself. Therefore, if the message record con tains, forexample, twelve messages recorded in a helical path of proper pitch, andthe message hub 52 is clutched to the cam cylinder by engaging thegroove 61 of the clutch rod 58 with the ball detent 62 and if the speedof the rotating cam cylinder is 12 R. P. M., the same individual messageon the message record will be repeated during each cycle of the machine.If, on the other hand, it is desired to announce each of 12 messagesconsecutively, the message drum is disengaged from the drive of themachine by engaging the groove 60 of the clutch rod 58 with the detent62, the message record 50 is removed and a difierent message record issubstituted, on which the messages have been recorded along slightlydifferent helical paths corresponding to a rotative speed of 12 /2 R. P.M., and the message drum is then clutched to the shaft 66 by engagingthe groove 59 with the detent 62 as illustrated in Figure 2. In thisway, the beginning of each message period of a cycle of the machinefinds a different message record beneath the appropriate reproducinghead, the message drum having rotated 2 times during the 10 second cycleof the machine. When operating in this manner the message record may, ifdeired,be provided with seconds announcements in 'addition to, and atone end of, each commericalor other message.

The arrangementseen in Figure 3 permits the hour drum to be speedilyindexed, manually, to set the machine properly for the commencement ofoperation at any time of day. Thus, the screw 79 may be loosened and thehour drum indexed to the desired position, and the screw 79 will besecured in the corresponding threaded opening 79 of the hour hub, therebeing 12 such threaded openings. This operation indexes the hour drumrelative to the drive mechanism without disturbing the relationship ofthe minute drum to the drive mechanism or, in other words, is a means ofrapidly changing the hours only. In order to set the entire timeannouncing structure relative to the drive mechanism, the timeannouncing structure is disconnected from the drive by moving the minuteshaft 76 axially to disengage the pin 89 from the opening 90 of thecollar 88. This movement of the minute shaft 76 is produced by means nowto be described.

Referring to Figures 2 and 8, it will be seen that a cup-like clutchoperating member 120 is secured against axial motion on the minute shaft76 by spring rings 121, but is free to rotate relative to the minuteshaft 76. Within the clutch operating member 120 and secured to theclutch shaft 81 by means of screws 122, extending through slots 123 inminute shaft 76, is clutch drum 124. Oil eals 125 and 126 are providedbetween the clutch drum 124 and minute shaft 76. The outer cylindricalsurface of the drum 124 is formed to provide cam slots 127 (Figure 8)into which project cam followers 128 secured to the clutch operatingmember 120. It will be understood that by rotating the member 120, bymeans of the knurled collar on the outer end thereof, the clutch shaft81 is caused to be moved axially to disengage the pin 89 from the hole90 in collar 88, as mentioned before. When this has been done, theentire time announcing structure may be indexed relative to the drivingmechanism so as to bring the appropriate minute record under thereproducing head. To facilitate the indexing action the gear 91 isprovided with a ball detent 130 which is adapted to engage in any one ofan appropriate circular series of depressions formed in the adjacentface of the collar 88.

Referring to Figures 1, 2 and 3 the arrangement for alternatelyreproducing a time announcement and a commercial or other messageincludes the two magnetic reproducing heads 29 and 30, which arepivotally supported, one at either end of the carriage 26, onanti-friction pivots 131, 132. Preferably, the messages (hour, minuteand commercial) are recorded to be reproduced as the particular head istravelling inwardly, i. e., toward the cam cylinder, hence theconstruction is such that each head is lifted from its associated recordat the end of its inward travel, and replaced on the record at the endof its outw-ard travel. To accomplish this sequence of operations, thecarriage is provided at either end with transversely extendingcrankshafts 133, 134 mounted in bearings fixed in the transversesemi-cylindrical bosses 135, 136 of the carriage 26. Each crankshaft133, 134 carries an arm 137 and projecting crank pin 138, 139 at oneend,

for co-operation with adjustable stops 140, 141, 142, 143, and at itsother end each crankshaft carries an arm 144, 145 and pin 146, 147 forengaging one of the pins 148, 149 associated with the pivotedreproducing heads. The crankshafts are provided with suitable frictionmeans to cause each of them to remain in the position to which it isshifted by engagement with a stop member 140143. As the carriage movesleftward beyond the position shown in Figure 1, for example, the pin 139will engage the stop member 143 and the crankshaft will be rockedcounterclockwise. This causes pin 147 to lower, permitting the head 30to engage the hour record 70, and as the carriage moves to the right, toreproduce first a message from the hour record 70 and then a messagefrom the minute record 71.

Similarly, engagement of the crank pin 139 with stop member 142 willcause a reverse movement of crankshaft 134 and head 30, and thecounterparts of these movements are brought about, in a similar manner,by engagement of the pin 138 with the stop members and 141.

It is necessary, of course, that the reproducing heads 29 and 30 beelectrically connected and disconnected, at the proper times, with alistening circuit (not shown), for example a telephone circuit, and forthispurpose a cut-through switch 150 and cut-out switch 151 areprovided, together with switch actuating means as seen in Figures 1 and6. In the illustrated embodiment the switches 150 and 151 are of themagnetic mercury type and the switch actuating device comprises apermanent magnet 152 mounted on a bell crank lever 153. The latter ispivoted on the carriage 26 by means of a suitable friction mounting 154seen in Figure 6, so that the bell crank lever 153 willremain in any setposition during its travel with the carriage 26, until it encounters astop member at either end of such travel when its position is altered.The stop members 1.55 and 156 (Figure 1) are secured to the rail 27(Figure 6), which, of course, is fixed in position. When the carriage 26approaches its left-hand position (Figure 1) the lever 153 encountersthe stop member 155 and is swung to the dotted line position as seen inFigure 1. In this position of the lever 153 the magnet 152 upon thereturn of the carriage to the right-hand position in Figure 1, will besufficiently far from the switch 150 so that the latter will not beactuated, but at the right-hand extremity of the travel of carriage 26,the lever 153 encounters stop member 156 as a result of which it swingsinto the full line position shown in Figure 1. At this point the magnet152, being closely adjacent to the cut-out switch 151 will cause thelatter to be actuated, disconnecting the reproducing heads from thelistening circuit to which they have been connected during the precedingcycle, and as the carriage 26 moves to the left, the magnet 152 nowfollows a path which carries it close to cut-through switch 150, causingthe latter to be actuated to connect the reproducing heads into thelistening circuit again. It is presumed that the listening circuit nowincludes a new group of telephone lines, for example, the electricalmeans and circuits by which the individual subscribers are connectedinto the listening circuit being beyond the scope of the presentinvention.

The switches 150 and 151 are supported on brackets 157 and 158,respectively, by means of spring clips 159, the brackets 157 and 158being adjustable lengthwise of a support 160 mounted on the housing 20.The exact points of the cycle at which the reproducing circuit may beconnected and disconnected with the listening circuit may therefore beadjusted as desired, depending, for example, on whether or not themessage record carries seconds announcements as mentioned above, andwhether such announcements are to be made at the beginning or end ofeach commercial or other message.

A modification of the time announcing machine described above isillustrated in Figures 9, 10 and 11, in which a cam cylinder 161corresponding to the cam cylinder 35, is provided with two separate camgrooves 162 and 163, corresponding, for example, to 10 and 15- secondcycles, respectively. The cam groove 162 is similar to that illustratedin Figure 7 while the cam groove 163 is designed on the same principles,but describes three complete revolutions of the cam cylinder which, ifthe latter rotates, for example, at 12 R. P. M., represents a cycle timeof 15 seconds. It will be noted that the low pitch portion of thegroove, corresponding to the message portion of the cycle, has beenextended for a full revolution of the cylinder, whereas the high pitchportion of the groove, corresponding to the time announcement period, isof the same circumferential length as that of the 10-second groove 1.62.Of course, it is necessary in this modification to provide two camfollowers'one for each: of. the twogrooves, which may be selectivelyengaged. This construction is seenin Figures 10 andvll', in WhlClllthCcam follower 164 is shown engaged with the groove 163. while the .camfollower 165,.engageable with the groove 162, is shown in itsretractedposition.

In order to: prevent simultaneous engagement of both cam followers withtheir respective grooves, which, of course, would bring about damage tothe machine, a stop bar 166 is slidably mounted on the carriage 26'between thecamfollowers 164 and 165, the bar 166 being adapted toengage: beneath the knurled head 165' of the cam follower 165 or the.corresponding knurled head. 164' ofthe cam. follower-164;. As shown inFigure 11, the bar 166v is engaged beneath the head 165 ofv cam,follower 165 and, in order to advance the latter into engagement withthe. groove 162, it is first necessary to lift cam follower. 164- out ofengagement with groove 163 and then to slide the bar 166. tothe right inFigure 11, in which position it.will.engage beneath the head 164 andprevent the. cam follower 164. from being advanced again into engagementwith groove 163. As an additional safeguard, the heads. 164', 165 mayeach be provided with a catch 167, adaptedtoengage between the head of ascrew '168 and a collar 168' carried by the screw 168, which is threadedinto the carriage 26, so that neither cam follower may be retracteduntil its associated catch 167 is disengaged from the correspondingscrew 168 by loosening the screw and then rotating the cam followerhead. An indicator 169 may be provided on the stop bar 166.forindicating the duration of the cycle for which the machine is set, ineither position of the stop bar.

It willbeunderstood, of course, that in shifting from the. 10,-secondcycle, of groove 162 to the l-second cycle of groove 163, or vice versa,it will be necessary to change the message. record accordingly.Moreover, it will be readily understood that by means of. suitablephysical modification of the machine, a cam cylinder having three ormore diiferent cam grooves may. be employed, enabling the machine tooperate with cycles of three or more different periods;

A further modification of the machine is illustrated in Figures 12, 13.and 14,.wherein a' magnetic erasing head 170 is provided on the messageend of the machine, to engage the message record 50.:in addition to theregular reproducing head 131. The erase head 17 h is mounted on the.carriage 26 in the same manner heretofore described in connectionwith'the heads 13% and 131 and is adapted to be lifted and lowered bythe crank shaft 133 in the same manner heretofore described, thecrankshaft beingprovided with a' further crank 171 for that purpose. Inaddition, means are provided for retaining the erase head 170 out ofengagement with the record notwithstanding the position of thecrankshaft 133, such means consisting in a relay 172, thearmature 173 ofwhichcarriesan arm 174 which is adjustably cor nected to the head 170 bymeans of the; vertical link 175. When it is desired to engage the erasehead 1769 with the record, so as.to erase the previously recordedmessages,preparatory to recording new messages on the record, the relay172 is energized. The'armature 173 is thus attracted to the full lineposition seen in Figure 12, thus lowering the head 17% onto the record.When the erasing operation has been completed, the relay 172 isde-energized, allowing the spring 176-toswing the armature 173 to thedotted line position seen in Figure 12, which results in raising thehead170. from the record.

In re-making a record with the aid of the feature just described, themachine is operated with both heads in engagement with the messagerecord, a constant frequency erasing signal being impressed upon themagnetic erasing head 170, which thus serially erases the existingmessages on the record asthe latter is indexed, either manually orautomatically, relative to the cam cylinder as; previously decribed.Simultaneously, a new message may be recorded at a different position onthe record (the old message having previously been erased from thatposition) by employing the reproducing head 131 as a recording head. Thetechnique of magnetic recording and reproduction is well known and formsno part of the present invention, and therefore it is deemed unnecessaryto describe the details of the reproducing and. eraseheads. It will beunderstood, of course, that thedirection of rotation of the machine issuch that the old messa e is magnetically erasedfrom any given spiralpath on. the cylindrical record before that portion of the record isindexed to the position in which the head 131, acting as a recordinghead, acts to record a new message thereon.

Due to the adjustability of the cut-through and cut out switches, theaforesaiderasing and recording operation may be carried out withoutremoving the machine from time-announcing service.

Having-thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. An announcing machine comprising a cam cylinder, a motor drivinglyconnected to said cam cylinder, 21 message drum, sound reproducing meansincluding a head operatively connected to be reciprocated length- Wiseof said message drum by rotation of said cam cylinder, means foroperatively .connecting said message drum directly to said cam cylinder,alternate means including change speed gearing for operativelyconnecting said message drum to said cam cylinder, and clutch means forselectively engaging said message drumwith one of said connecting meansor disengaging said message drumfrom both said connecting means.

2. A machine according to claim 1, said message drum being formed toprovide aplurality of alternative means of engagement with said clutchmeans'whereby said message drum may be manually indexed relative to saidcam cylinder.

3. An announcing machine comprising a cam cylinder, a motor drivinglyconnected to said cam cylinder, a message drum, an hour drum and aminute drum all coaxial with said cam cylinder, said hour and minutedrums being arranged at one end of said cam cylinder and said messagedrum at the opposite end thereof, sound reproducing means including-tworeproducing heads operatively connected to he reciprocated, onelengthwise of said message drum and the other lengthwise of said hourand minute drums, by rotation of said cam cylinder, means including aclutch operatively connecting said minute drum to said cam cylinder,and. means operatively connecting said hour and minute drums.

4. An announcing machine comprising a cam cylin der, a motor drivinglyconnected to said cam cylinder, a message drum, an hour drum and aminute drum all coaxial with said cam cylinder, said hour and minutedrums being arranged at one end of said cam cylinder and said messagedrum at the opposite end thereof, sound reproducing means including tworeproducing heads operatively connected to be reciprocated, onelengthwise of said message drum and the other lengthwise of said hourand minute drums, by rotation of said cam cylinder, means including aclutch operatively connecting said minute drum to said cam cylinder, andmeans operatively connecting said hour and minute drums, said last meansincluding a member for quick engagement and disengagement with said hourdrum so that the latter may be manually indexed independently of theminute drum and cam cylinder.

5. An announcing machine comprising a cam cylinder, a motor drivinglyconnected to said camcylinder, a message drum, an hour drum and a minutedrum all coaxial with said cam cylinder, said hour and minute drumsbeing arranged at one end of said cam cylinder and said message drum atthe opposite end thereof, sound reproducing means including tworeproducing 9 heads operatively connected to be reciprocated, onelengthwise of said message drum and the other length- Wise of said hourand minute drums, by rotation of said cam cylinder, and meansoperatively connecting said drum with said cam cylinder.

6. Time announcing machine comprising drive means, a minute drum, anhour drum, means including a minute index ring, a minute index gear, anda minute shaft operatively connecting said drive means and said minutedrum, said last means including a clutch between said minute index gearand said minute shaft, and means operatively connecting said hour drumand said minute drum.

7. Announcing machine comprising a cam cylinder, a motor drivinglyconnected thereto, and at least a message drum, said cam cylinder havinga plurality of cam paths formed thereon, each of a diflerentcircumferential length, sound reproducing means including a head adaptedto be reciprocated lengthwise of said message drum, and means forselectively operatively connecting said head with one of said cam paths.

8. Announcing machine according to claim 7, said cam paths being formed,respectively, on axially displaced portions of said cam cylinder.

9. Announcing machine according to claim 7, said cam paths being formed,respectively, on axially displaced portions of said cam cylinder, saidmeans operatively connecting said head with one of said cam pathscomprising a carriage adapted to reciprocate lengthwise of said camcylinder, and a plurality of cam followers operatively associated withsaid carriage and each adapted for engagement with one of said campaths.

10. A time announcing machine comprising a cam cylinder, a motordrivingly connected thereto, a time drum and a message drum operativelyconnected to said cam cylinder, sound reproducing means including a headadapted to reciprocate lengthwise of each of said drums, means includinga cam follower operatively connecting said head and said cam cylinder,and means for connecting and disconnecting said heads with a listeningcircuit, said last means being adjustable to connect and disconnect saidheads with said circuit at desired points in the cycle of said machine.

11. Machine according to claim 10, said last means comprising a pair ofelectrical switches independently adjustable parallel to the axis ofsaid cam cylinder, and means driven from said cam cylinder forsuccessively actuating said switches.

12. An announcing machine comprising a cam cylinder, a motor drivinglyconnected to said cam cylinder, a message drum coaxial with said camcylinder, means operatively connecting said message drum to said camcylinder, a carriage supported for reciprocation parallel to the axis ofsaid cylinder and drum, means including a cam follower operativelyconnecting said carriage and said cam cylinder a magnetic soundrecording and reproducing head supported on said carriage and adapted toengage said message drum, a magnetic erasing head supported on saidcarriage and adapted to engage said message drum, and means forselectively disengaging said erasing head from said drum while therecording and reproducing head is engaged therewith, or engaging bothheads with said record.

13. A time announcing machine comprising a cam cylinder, a motordrivingly connected thereto, a time drum and a message drum in alignmentwith and operatively connected to said cam cylinder, magnetic recordscarried by said time and message drums, means including a cam followeroperatively connecting said head and said cam cylinder, a carriageadapted to reciprocate lengthwise of said cam cylinder, soundreproducing means including two magnetic reproducing heads pivoted onsaid carriage, one of said heads being adapted to engage the record onsaid time drum and the other head being adapted to engage the record onsaid message drum, and means for automatically pivoting each head intoengagement with its associated record at one end of the travel of saidcarriage and for pivoting the same head out of said engagement at theother end of said travel.

14. A time announcing machine comprising a cam cylinder, a motordrivingly connected thereto, a time drum and a message drum in alignmentwith and operatively connected to said cam cylinder, magnetic recordscarried by said time and message drums, means including a cam followeroperatively connecting said head and said cam cylinder, a carriageadapted to reciprocate lengthwise of said cam cylinder, soundreproducing means including two magnetic reproducing heads movablymounted on said carriage, one of said heads being adapted to engage therecord on said time drum and the other head being adapted to engage therecord on said message drum, and means for automatically moving eachhead into engagement with its associated record at one end of the travelof said carriage and for moving the same head out of said engagement atthe other end of said travel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re.21,111 Franklin June 13, 1939 2,144,625 Herman Jan. 24, 1939 2,285,425Franklin June 9, 1942 2,364,147 Jones Dec. 5, 1944 2,530,029 Pond June13, 1950 2,643,130 Kornei June 23, 1953 2,670,212 Heller Feb. 23, 1954

